Microsoft Releases List of Most Notable Changes in Windows Vista SP1

[zekrahminator]

The 21 page document can be found in both XLS and PDF format.

Both can be downloaded from Microsoft.

In case you don't feel like sifting through 21 pages of Microsoft's PR team at their finest, I took the liberty of summing up the summary. Basically, Microsoft took in a lot of user feedback, and mushed it into Vista Service Pack 1. Service Pack 1 addresses a ton of specific reliability and performance issues. Microsoft even went so far as to re-do the Vista kernel.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[3991vhtes]

I'll have to read it later!

 

[Conti027]

sounds like a sexy let down. but hopfully not.

 

[MikeJeng]

I heard Vista eats RAM for dinner.




Has Microsoft put Vista on a diet yet.




I haven't considered buying this operating system yet because of it's "appetite for RAM"

 

[kylew]

Isn't the idea that your OS is SUPPOSED to use your ram? What's the point in having say, 4GB and then complaining when your OS actually puts it to use? Superfetch anyone?

 

[Nemesis881]

I heard Vista eats RAM for dinner.




Has Microsoft put Vista on a diet yet.




I haven't considered buying this operating system yet because of it's "appetite for RAM"

You have 4gb's...I'm running it fine on 2

 

[Firedomain]

i have 4 & im running every game on max (well... maybe not crysis!!!)

 

[X-TeNDeR]

By the time i'll finish reading this document, we will be ready for SP2.

 

[CDdude55]

I now want SP1. But will it install just like the old Vistas?

 

[Firedomain]

i just wanna know whats going on with the OEM hack fix........ & when the hackers will rehack the fix!!!!! till then... not interested...... (i swear im legit!!!)

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I agree with kylew.

People put ram in their machines for the os to use,then complain when it uses it.I dont care how much of my ram vista uses,as long as it does what i want.

Changes to the kernal? mmm,i'm gonna have a read of the pdf later.

 

[asb2106]

I agree with kylew.

People put ram in their machines for the os to use,then complain when it uses it.I dont care how much of my ram vista uses,as long as it does what i want.

Changes to the kernal? mmm,i'm gonna have a read of the pdf later.

I agree also! The reason people are putting more ram in now is because your computer can use it! The OS can do a better job of using it so I have no compaints, my 64bit install uses about 1.1 to 1.5 depending on my usage after the restart. Its been up for 4 days without a restart and its at 1.4 right now. Thats nothing when you have 4gigs!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I just had a look at the pdf,theres a list about 30 pages long of the hotfixes it includes.

 

[Ravenas]

I heard Vista eats RAM for dinner.




Has Microsoft put Vista on a diet yet.




I haven't considered buying this operating system yet because of it's "appetite for RAM"

Vista doesn't eat ram, and you shouldn't even be saying that with the amount of ram you have at your finger tips. However, I will say Vista isn't the best with ram. With the average user using 2GB of ram, and if using that ram plus Vista Ultimate 64-bit using 50%+ of that ram AT ALL TIMES, sure there is room for improvement. However, to say that vista uses all of your ram is a flat out lie, and the operating system actually runs pretty good with 2GB and a quad.

I'm sure you're an Apple user though, and you're used to being able to run your OS without it using anything close to 50%, but the fact is Vista isn't as bad with ram as you're making it out to be.

 

[AsRock]

I agree with kylew.

People put ram in their machines for the os to use,then complain when it uses it.I dont care how much of my ram vista uses,as long as it does what i want.

Changes to the kernal? mmm,i'm gonna have a read of the pdf later.

I put ram in my system more for OTHER than the OS i don't want a OS that uses shed loads of Ram even more so when there's more and more games coming out that will use it too.

my games all ready take 1.52gig now and more in the pagefile yet another gig+ pending on game. Unless Riva Tuner is false lol.

 

[AphexDreamer]

Well its nice to see 25-50 Percent increase on diffrent reading and writing scenarios.

They also did some improvements on SuperFetch and readyboost as well.

 

[AphexDreamer]

I put ram in my system more for OTHER than the OS i don't want a OS that uses shed loads of Ram even more so when there's more and more games coming out that will use it too.

Look all vista does is use the RAM while no other App is useing it so you can do what you want to do smoother and faster.

As soon as another application needs it though, like a Game, it instantly gives it all back up so that the game can use it.

EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS NOW? Its called superfetch. look it up.

 

[Ravenas]

Look all vista does is use the RAM while no other App is useing it so you can do what you want to do smoother and faster.

As soon as another application needs it though, like a Game, it instantly gives it all back up so that the game can use it.

EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS NOW? Its called superfetch. look it up.

I was under the impression MS abandoned superfetch, but I could be wrong of course.

 

[AphexDreamer]

I was under the impression MS abandoned superfetch.

no, they have not. Currently all Vista OS use it.

If you even read the the improvment list for SP1 it mentions them improving SuperFetch.

Here it goes

"· Includes improvements to Windows Superfetch™ that help to further improve resume times, in many environments."

 

[Ravenas]

no, they have not. Currently all Vista OS use it.

If you even read the the improvment list for SP1 it mentions them improving SuperFetch.

That's cool, no reason to be so grippy.

 

[AphexDreamer]

That's cool, no reason to be so grippy.

I don't mean to sound grippy or anything, I'm just saying thats all. Sorry if I sounded grippy everyone. My bad...

 

[Ravenas]

I don't mean to sound grippy or anything, I'm just saying thats all. Sorry if I sounded grippy everyone. My bad...

It's all good I just thought I read somewhere that MS dropped it. Clearly I was wrong, and I just noticed it in the SP notes.

 

[AsphyxiA]

so what you are saying is superfetch is like casheing memory? I was under the impression that part of the reason why people gripe is because vista allocates so much ram to the operating system and DOSEN'T give it up for other programs (software bloat). I like the idea of cacheing ram because if its not in use, it takes longer to get it up and running to use. Plus not all PC will take advantage of superfetch either.

 

[AphexDreamer]

so what you are saying is superfetch is like casheing memory? I was under the impression that part of the reason why people gripe is because vista allocates so much ram to the operating system and DOSEN'T give it up for other programs (software bloat). I like the idea of cacheing ram because if its not in use, it takes longer to get it up and running to use. Plus not all PC will take advantage of superfetch either.

ugh, SuperFetch works on any PC with Windows Vista.

Here is what it does as explained by Microsoft...

"Windows SuperFetch enables programs and files to load much faster than they would on Windows XP–based PCs.

When you're not actively using your computer, background tasks—including automatic backup programs and antivirus scans—run when they will least disturb you. These background tasks can take up system memory space that your programs had been using. On Windows XP–based PCs, this can slow progress to a crawl when you attempt to resume work.

SuperFetch monitors which applications you use the most and preloads these into your system memory so they'll be ready when you need them. Windows Vista also runs background programs, like disk defragmenting and Windows Defender, at low priority so that they can do their job but your work always comes first."

and by wiki

"SuperFetch is a technology that speeds up the loading of commonly-used files and programs by pre-loading them into memory. It's based on the "prefetcher" function in Windows XP. [7]

The intent is to improve performance in situations where running an anti-virus scan or back-up utility would result in otherwise recently-used information being paged out to disk, or disposed from in-memory caches, resulting in lengthy delays when a user comes back to their computer after a period of non-use.

SuperFetch also keeps track of what times of day that applications are used, which allows it to intelligently pre-load information that is expected to be used in the near future.

While the necessary files by default are loaded into main memory, Windows Vista has the ability to instead use alternate storage methods, such as USB flash drives, which, though not as fast as RAM, often can be significantly faster than a hard disk drive, specifically for non-sequential I/O as there is virtually no random seek delay; thereby freeing up main memory."

 

[Kreij]

Many people fuss about the fact that upon booting Vista, your hard drive will be being accessed heavily for a while. This is SuperFetch. It is loading the programs that you use most into RAM so they will be available much quicker when you need then. Including games that you play often.

You can shut off this feature, but there is no point in doing that.

Many people have bragged about how they got their system stripped down to only using 100MB of RAM (or whatever). This is great? A lean mean OS that has nothing loaded into RAM, so when you want to do something the OS has to go to the HD anyway.

It's not that Vista overuses RAM, it is that it will load up everything it thinks you want to try to facilitate the optimum performance for you.

Let's be honest. 2GB of RAM is not the standard. If you have 1GB, Vista will work fine. If you have 512MB, stay with something else.
If you have less than 512MB, upgrade or use DOS for crying out loud.

Minor Disclaimer : If you shut off SF and sit at the desktop and do nothing, Vista sill uses a fair amount of RAM for the default processes. But so what? What good is a computer that you don't do anything with?

If you want to do that you may as well save yourself a lot of money and just buy cement block to sit on your computer desk. I hear they don't use any RAM at all !!!